Review Process For Village At Squaw Valley Specific Plan Is Under Way

Placer County took the first step recently in the public-review process for the Village at Squaw Valley Specific Plan, a resort community proposed for 101 acres at the western end of Squaw Valley.

The specific-plan development would be built primarily on land that currently is used for parking and is located north, west and east of the existing Village at Squaw Valley.

The beginning of the formal public-review process was triggered by the Oct. 10 release of a Notice of Preparation to other government agencies and interested parties.

Circulating a Notice of Preparation is the initial step in the development of an environmental impact report on a project and is an opportunity for agencies and the public to comment on which issues should be studied as potential environmental impacts.

Comments on the Notice of Preparation for the Village at Squaw Valley Specific Plan should be submitted no later than 5 p.m. on Nov. 9.

Comments sent by mail should be addressed to the Placer County Planning Services Division, 3091 County Center Drive, Auburn, CA 95603, Attention: Maywan Krach, Community Development Technician.

A public scoping meeting will be held on Thursday, Nov. 1 in Squaw Valley to inform agencies and the public about the proposed project and provide them with an opportunity to comment on the scope and contents of the EIR. The meeting will take place at 10 a.m. in the Resort at Squaw Creek, 400 Squaw Creek Road.

“This is the first of many opportunities for the public to comment on the proposed Village at Squaw Valley Specific Plan,” said Director Michael J. Johnson of the Placer County Community Development Resource Agency. “It is an important step in the process, because it is a chance to help determine the scope of the environmental review and make sure issues that concern them are studied.”

He noted that other key opportunities for public participation will include comments on the draft EIR and testimony before the Squaw Valley Municipal Advisory Council, Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors.

The EIR will be prepared on the Village at Squaw Valley Specific Plan and a first-phase project proposed by applicant Squaw Valley Real Estate LLC.

The specific plan provides a detailed blueprint for developing an all-season resort community in four phases over 12 to 15 years. The development would include hotels, condominium hotels, and other residential properties. It also would feature skier services, other recreational facilities, retail shopping, restaurants and bars, and entertainment.

In the first phase, five buildings with a total of more than 908,000 square feet of space would be built on 26 acres. The project would include three condominium hotel buildings with commercial uses on the ground floors and a 132,000-square-foot Mountain Adventure and Aquatic Center with indoor rock climbing, water-based recreation, a movie theater, bowling alley and an arcade.

Copies of the Notice of Preparation and Initial Study are available for public review at the Tahoe City Library, 740 N. Lake Blvd., and the Truckee Library, 10031 Levon Ave.

Copies of both documents also are available on the county website at www.placer.ca.gov. When the county home page appears, use the pull-down list of “Departments” in the upper right corner of the page to find Environmental Coordination Services. When its page appears, hit the link to “Environmental Impact Reports” and look for the Village at Squaw Valley Specific Plan at the bottom of the list of private projects.

More information also is available by contacting Project Manager Alex Fisch at 530-745-3081 or afisch@placer.ca.gov or Maywan Krach at 530-745-3132 or mkrach@placer.ca.gov. The latter also can assist interested parties who want to receive e-mail notifications when informational presentations and public workshops on the specific plan are scheduled and mail notification when the draft EIR or entitlement hearings are scheduled to be held by the Planning Commission or Board of Supervisors.